The Merchant, the Princess, and the Serpent
by Dr. Jeckyle
Summary: Alexandros Giovanni has spent his entire unlife looking out for himself, but when two associates of his ask for his help, he finds his unlife in danger for the first time.


            With the rising of the moon, the mystical bonds of blood once more ran it's coarse through his veins and signaled his awakening for this night. The first thought that moved into his mind was that primordial urge that many of his kind fell too after a few centuries of watching their friends decay. It was the urge to feed, to escape into the shadows and find the soul of his meal. To sink his fangs into the skin of the mortal and tame this calling of his for just a few glorious seconds… but only to for a moment. The Beast was a tempting mistress, always beaconing to him to feast over his need and destroy what he had built in his unlife.

The Beast wished to destroy what he spent many years creating

The Beast wished to overindulge in the life-blood of mortals

The Beast wished to claim what part of his mortality he had left.

            But Alexandros Giovanni was a stubborn man. Perhaps he had been raised to be that way when he still maintained a heartbeat, or he'd developed it over the years of his unlife. Either way, Alexandros found an inner amusement of holding the Beast within, playing the role of the master of the demon that waged inside him. A game? Maybe. He viewed it more as an assertive. To fall to the Beast would make him its slave. 

Not a fond thought to Alexandros. Not a fond thought at all.

Alexander was a man who thought of himself as above mortals and kindred alike. The mere thought of becoming a servant to his sire, let alone the Beast within was enough to bring him to the verge of frenzy. 

The irony in that statement was noted

 Thanks to a case of amnesia, he was unaware of how he had spent his life among the living, but he had spent decades building what he could, easily making friends with the kindred, and just as easily stabbing them in the back when they weren't needed any longer. Yes, to trust him was a mistake, but his demeanor came with being a Giovanni.  So, the Beast would forever be caged, locked away in what remained of his soul.

            Standing to his feet, the silky fabric of his robe running over his body, Alexandros moved from the comforts of his bed to a crossed the room where his newly pressed suit that was left out for him by Jeeves, his servant, earlier that night. Slipping into the comfortable materials, the outfit being topped off with the clipping of his wristwatch that probably cost more then it deserved, he moved from his bedroom and into the hall.

Jeeves was standing in his usual place. Near the stairwell, his suit almost as finely pressed as Alexandros', he stood tall, erect, not revealing the true power that his frail form held.

"Sir, Mistress Lilith and Master Red are awaiting you down in the lobby," Jeeves spoke as he moved closer brandishing a lint brush, which quickly was put to use. Waving away the servant, Alexandros' eyebrow rising in what most would assume to be in a questioning manner, the young Giovanni moved down the steps. The lobby was only a short walk through the door where his two guests awaited.

The first person that took his attention was Red… or Master Red as Jeeves had come to call him. Red was of all things a Setite, which usually meant garbage to Alexandros. Most Setites were power hungry, manipulating cultist. Red on the other hand was merely a power hungry, manipulative bastard. A man the size of two mortals with a red goatee on his chin, usually seen wearing a beret and a smile, Red was hardly someone he trusted, but most Vampires fell into that list. Red and he had met through business, of coarse. Alexandros was a man that needed things to disappear and Red was a magician at such things. 

Lilith was a character at most, but most would call a Malkavian a character. Alexandros had met the young woman during one of his sire's transactions. He'd been in New Jersey at the time over seeing the new shipment of smuggled goods at one of the state's numerous harbors when the young creature had approached him. Upon introducing herself as Shiva, The Lesbian Goddess of Fruit and Love, she then proceeded to warn him of the cops that were approaching. His sire had warned him never to leave a Malkavian's warning astray, and because of her, the goods had been well hidden when the police arrived. So he had given her his business card, promising a favor to her next time she was in New York. Two weeks later, she arrives at his door, asking him to fund her library. 

The fact that they were here wasn't an unordinary happening, the fact that they were together was. Alexandros was not a man to believe in coincidences, and the fact that these two knew each other was enough to get an eyebrow to rise from this Giovanni, a task not easily accomplished. 

Red was the first to speak.

"Alex, you crazy son of a bitch! Long time no see!" The large man spoke, his serpent-like smile spreading over his glowing face.

Apparently, Red would be asking a favor of him tonight.

"Red, It is somewhat of a surprise for you to come to my home. Uninvited." Alexandros greeted, an extra emphasis being placed on the last word. That brought a chuckle from the man as he moved to towards him, slapping him on the back. Apparently, Alexandros noted, this man had no idea how to handle Armani.

"You fired the maid?" Spoke the second guest as she raised her head to great him, those glasses that donned her features resting at the tip of her nose. "Pity, she cute. Perky. Smell nice."

" She was too cute, too perky… and her smell still haunts my nostrils." He shot back towards the Malkavian, his hands crossing over his chest. He hoped that these two hadn't stopped by for a quick chat before going out for the night.

"Oh, The other maid you got seems just as enticing." Lilith said as she peeked her head around Alexandros, staring at the closed doors as if she could see what stood behind them.

"That's a man, Lily," boasted Red with yet another laugh. Another slap on the back and was soon countered by a glare from the young Giovanni. " Leave it to a Malkavian, huh young blood?"

Oh, how delightful. His favorite nickname Red just seemed to love to call him. Being only twelfth generation seemed to entertain this man to no end, him being eleventh. The nickname, in his opinion, had run it's coarse a while ago… if only Red would realize it.

"You both are wasting my time, and my time-"

"Where's your maid?" 

It was Lilith again.

"I fired her Lilith."

"Why? She was cute. Perky. Sme-"

"Why the hell are you both here?" He could feel the Beast within him awaken with his words, his palms growing into fists as the annoyance of the Malkavian librarian seemed burn him. Alexandros was never one to sit around and had a kindred "breakfast club." His unlife was dedicated to three things. Money. Power. Family. And neither of which did these two hold much of.

"Settle down, young blood." Red moved in for another slap on the back, but Alexandros caught the hand on the way down. "Lilith seems to think that tonight our destiny awaits us."

"Yes, we three need to go here." Lilith stood to her feet and moved to him as he released the man's hand. Upon handing him a flyer, she continued to speak. "I see that greatness comes from us going here."

Now that was interesting. Alexandros had seen the extent of the Malkavian madness, but he knew when to listen to one. And at the moment, Lilith was a woman to be listened too. Looking down at the paper in his hands, his face once more becoming that emotionless façade he was known for, he read the words out loud.

"Christian Rave. Jesus wants you to get high on life…. What he fuck is this?" He asked as he tossed the paper back to the two.  The both just smiled… which made him feel more curious then he was before.

            Lilith never trusted people with last names. They were too indecisive for her liking. She had lived decades with just her first name and never once had it become an annoyance to have the absence of the following title. So, though Alexandros Giovanni was the sole founder of her library, or what she had come to call "The Bookatorium", she kept an eye out for him.

            Now Red… her distrust in him was for another reason. She personally thought he smiled too much. Plus his goatee was red. Red was the color of the devil. The devil was evil. Evil was bad. Thus, Red was someone she had to watch for… but he was necessary according to her dreams. 

            The dreams had first started on the night when she met Alexandros. She was told that a favor from her would guarantee the funding she would need to create a suitable haven for her and her books. And since that night, the dreams had come more frequent. They would start with a second of flashing objects, then a voice… a male voice.

            Male voices didn't make Lilith feel safe. She distrusted the sound a male made when he spoke.

            Yes, but this voice was soothing, calming. It was not one of a seducer trying to claim permission to embrace her in bed. It was that of a sire, whispering advice and filling her mind with guidance. 

            That voice was the sole reason why she had made friends with both Red and Alexandros. It was the sole reason why she noticed the flyer hanging on the telephone pole outside her haven. It was the reason why she was sitting inside Alexandros' silver Aston Martin DB5. He claimed that it was a classic… something that a man named Bond drove in the movies.

            Lilith loathed movies. To many noises and last names for her liking.

            " I thought you said you knew where this place-," Alexandros paused as he looked back down at the flyer to catch the name of the warehouse. " Side Tracks is at!"

            " I'd know how to get there if I was in my car," She responded as she continued to stare out the window, a strand of hair riding down her forehead. Alexandros was sounding angrier with each block they turned.

            "You don't have a car, you got a fuck'n bike!" Red was now showing his irritation from the backseat, his arms crossing over his broad chest. "Come on and think, I'm hungry!"

            "This is not a buffet, let me remind you," Lilith said with a glance. "We are here to search for--- well, for something that is of great importance."

            "You don't even know! And why shouldn't I feed. You're just pissed because they're ain't going to be any lesbians here." Red's usual amused demeanor was falling. He didn't seem to like to be told what to do.

            "Both of you are waning my patience! Just sit back-" Alexandros interrupted the argument before it started only to be interrupted by a shriek from Lilith as she pointed to a warehouse.

            "There! I see it!"

            Finding a parking place took little more then a minute and they approached the doors of the supposed "Christian Rave." With a quick slip of some cash to the juice bags at the doors, the three vampires entered the warehouse.

            "This is a Christian Rave? Hell! I need to go to more of these!" Red was the first one to be heard over the beating music that seemed to take dominance over the area. Lilith had to agree with him somewhat, even though he did have a red goatee. The place was pact with teenagers no older than eighteen, all of them wearing less clothes than she wore to bed.

            "What did you guys expect? A rave is still a rave… even if the symbol of the night is a crucifix." Alexandros spoke as his attention ran up and down the rows of groups of the warehouse.

            "So this is a cover you think?" Red asked as he took a few steps deeper into the crowd, his sunglasses hiding the delight that probably was rimming those eyes of his.

            :" Unless Jesus became a lot more lenient," retorted Alexandros as he plucked a needle from a girl's grip, seconds before she could plant it into her arm. With a quick clench of the hand, the needle became two and the girl was shoved away from the Giovanni before she could even let out a curse.

            "Split up?" 

The question came from Red, who seemed to be already taking his own advice. Slipping into the crowd of teenage girls, his hands groping what he could as he passed, the Setite soon vanished into the crowd.

"Well, unless you have a better idea, then I agree with the Serpent." And with that, Alexandros dove into his own group of people, vanishing within the masses within seconds.

            Lilith was alone now, which wasn't a pleasing thought to her at the moment. Lilith was never one to enjoy loud music. Music needed rhythm to run, much like a clock needed its gears to work. Lilith didn't like gears. They rhymed with snares. That's what the devil did. The devil was evil. So, in her mind, loud music was evil.

            Letting out a heavy sigh, she moved deeper into the masses, wondering what awaited her here. Maybe she'd prove Red wrong and find a girl. Crazier things had happened. Especially to a Malkavian. 


End file.
